Woodstock '99 was poorly planned and managed, which led to safety issues and negative experiences for concertgoers. The promoters cut corners on critical aspects of planning like crowd control and overlooked vital safety measures. They also failed to properly vet and prepare the venue, creating unrealistic expectations that were not met when attendees encountered an isolated, contaminated former military base instead of the lush fields advertised. In the future, Woodstock organizers should implement thorough planning, ensure cohesion between artists, provide adequate crowd flow between stages, and choose an appropriate venue like the expansive polo fields that could meet the scale of the event while delivering the atmosphere expected and promised to attendees.

1. Rebecca Moine
MUIN 425: Live Music Production and Promotion
October 6, 2010
Woodstock ‘99
Woodstock ’99 was one of the most ill plannedconcerts because of its ineffective crowd
control and lackadaisical safety management techniques. The promoters of the event cut
corners in areas where attention to detail is a must. By overlooking certain aspects that are vital
in concert planning, issues are bound to arise that threaten the concertgoers’ wellbeing. People
attend shows in order to see their favorite artists perform live and expect to do so in a safe and
positive manner, the notion of any negativity can ruin their entire experience and cause them
to inflict this negativity on others. Mass hysteria and chaos can ensue and like an infectious
disease it will spread until it has affected the entire crowd. Because of this, extreme caution
and thorough planning must be implemented in order to avoid these potential problems.
Woodstock ’99 serves to be a perfect example of what not to do in live music production and
promotion, by bringing attention to its many areas of fault one can delineate ways to ensure a
more beneficial concert-going experience.
An imperative concept of concert planning is cohesion; the bands playing at the event
should provide some degree of harmony between artists. Ridder Newspaper brings attention to
this niche marketing, commenting on the effects of trying to please all genres’ fans. These
factions in pop cause different groups to interact with each other and as musician Barry
Maguire perfectly states, “ ‘A Metallica fan and a Jewel fan want nothing to do with each other.

2. And in fact, Metallica fans want to hurt Jewel fans’ “ (Rubin 1). The idea itself of having an event
where thousands of people can come together and be united by music is just that, an idea.
When these idealistic thoughts are actually applied to reality the result is not as one would
expect because not all people carry themselves in a favorable demeanor. Why would people
want to share their experience with others that they have nothing in common with? Add
alcohol, drugs and exhaustion to this equation and you get violence and brutality. The Spin
article describes the effects of poorly planned crowd exchange at Woodstock ‘99, “In the 20
minutes between the end of Morissette’s set and the beginning of Limp Bizkit’s, there was a sea
of change in the crowd” (Spin, 105). As boys propelled themselves forward to mosh, girls
retreated from the stage.By providing more stages closer to each other people are free to move
about from stage to stage with relative ease, diluting the buildup of the masses at the main
stage. This way the audience would not clash and the crowd movement between acts would be
easily facilitated. Advanced Production Group, LLC is a large scale staging company from New
York that specializes in concert production.
A monumental issue with Woodstock ’99 was the venue; it was isolated, contaminated and
falsely advertised. The Woodstock ’99 brochure showed a diagram of the camping grounds
displaying green grass and plentiful trees-an oasis of sorts. Medical tents, food and beverage
areas as well as many exhibits make the area look appealing and entertaining. There appear to
be minor trails winding through the campgrounds, which are scattered with many “camper
comfort pods”; all encompassed by the Woodstock mural wall. By merely looking at this
picture, concert goers built up their expectations based upon the things promised to them. A

3. significant safety and crowd management strategy is to always give people what they were
promised because a lack of clear communication causes people to respond with anger and
negative behavior. People came to Woodstock ’99 imagining vast fields of grass sheltered by
trees and instead they got a barren, abandoned military base. If the venue was changed to a
more befitting area, the dynamics of the concert would be altered immensely. The Coachella
Music Festival in Coachella Valley, California is a great example of a perfect location for a show
of that magnitude. Coachella iswithin a manageable distance from Los Angeles and offers
camping as well as a vast number of other accommodations within close proximity to the
venue. It is set amidst palm trees and lush grass, ensuing in pleasant and peaceful vibes. The
next Woodstock should emanate from Goldenvoice’s successful show and become the
equivalent of the East-coast Coachella. It should stay with its original roots in New York, as did
Woodstock ’69 but be more accessible to patrons from the surrounding areas such as New York
City. Taking a page out of Coachella’s book, the concert should take place at a polo field
because the area spans across hundreds of acres and offers plenty of room for large stages and
camping. Blue Sky Polo Club is a great location because not only does it cover over 500 acres, it
is located only 65 miles northwest of New York City.

4. The 343 acres owned by the club include 4 full size tournament fields and 1 practice field, in
addition to 120 acres of rented pasture land. This provides the scenery that was promised to
the Woodstock ’99 attendees as well as ample space for thousands of people to coexist for 3
days.